My previous life as a Unison official in Wales is well known, and I remain very proud of the fact that I was part of the negotiating team working in partnership with the Welsh Labour Government that delivered the living wage into the NHS in Wales, ahead of the rest of the UK, and at a time when NHS colleagues in England were taking strike action against an intransigent UK Tory Government who would not honour the recommendations of the pay review body. I'm also old enough to remember why the NHS Pay Review Body was set up. It followed the bitter pay dispute of the early 1980s and was an attempt to look at pay independently and to take politics out of it. And that worked well, until, again, the UK Tory Government decided on policies of austerity and brought politics back into the game by interfering with the PRB's independence, insisting that they offered no more than 1 per cent, regardless of the evidence that could lead them to a different conclusion. Well, it's history repeating itself, isn't it, because, once again, the Tory UK Government has said it's only prepared to fund a 1 per cent increase, regardless of what evidence is presented to the PRB and what it recommends. This is a disgrace, given what NHS and other front-line workers have been through over the last year, so I'm pleased that this Welsh Labour Government have set out very clearly in evidence to the pay review body that there should be no arbitrary cap on the offer made to NHS workers; it should be an offer that reflects their worth to the country, and the UK Government must fully fund it. They have, after all, as Dai Lloyd has already been telling us, found money during this pandemic for many other things: billions for a privatised but largely failed track and trace system; a significant pay rise for Dominic Cummings; and is it still three official photographers for the Prime Minister? And, of course, £2 million for that press room in Downing Street. And at that time, NHS workers were working far beyond the normal call of duty to save lives and to keep us safe. They even saved the Prime Minister Boris Johnson's life, and he clapped and then he slammed the door on them. A 1 per cent pay offer brings shame on those who made that decision, but I hope that they will be shamed into doing better, because we can do better, as our Welsh Government has today shown with the announcement of a £500 bonus to all NHS and social care staff, in recognition of their efforts during the pandemic. 

Llywydd, can I also say that I'm pleased that, unlike the UK Government, the Welsh Government has not forgotten the social care workforce and is working with trade unions and the sector to deliver improvements to people who look after our nearest and dearest when they're at their most vulnerable? From my own experience, I know that this Welsh Labour Government, the health Minister and the trade unions will work together to show that Wales is a fairer nation, a nation that will reward those who helped us through the darkest of recent times. But let us not for one minute let the UK Government off the hook. They hold the purse strings for this, and they must be held to account and pay up. Actions will speak far louder than any words.